>
>
England play Bulgaria on Friday night in the first of their qualifiers for Euro 2012.
In order to get over their World Cup misery Capello and the England team need to focus on future success rather than trying to heal past wounds.
Fabio Capello has the best qualifying record of all England managers and the England team breezed through World Cup qualifying winning nine of ten games and scoring 34 goals in the process – more than any other team. They just fell apart when it came to the actual tournament.
England clearly have the talent and they shouldn’t have any trouble against any of their group G opponents, especially at home.
Bulgaria who travel to Wembley on Friday have only ever reached the European Championship finals once in their history, they missed out on the World Cup and their best player Dmitar Berbatov has just retired from international football. They could struggle to qualify.
Match odds
The England team won every home game in World Cup qualifying and their group is no more difficult for the Euros. There will be a few key players missing against Bulgaria. Chelsea duo Terry and Lampard are out as well as Man Utd’s Rio Ferdinand. However England have a talented squad and we are likely to see Theo Walcott and Adam Johnson on the wings in a five-man midfield with Rooney up front on his own. England are currently offered at 1.34 on Betfair which looks good to back. This is likely to be helped by the absence of the big names mentioned earlier.
Bulgaria are priced at 14.0 and the draw at 5.4.
Both teams to score
England’s ability to keep clean sheets has dropped considerably since Capello took over. In 13 home games at Wembley only four clean sheets were kept and that makes the 2.2 on both teams to score worth a look. In addition we are likely to see the new defensive pairing of Michael Dawson and Matthew Upson which is likely to be far from solidified yet. During World Cup qualifying Bulgaria scored in three of their five away games, so they do have the ability to score on the road.
Under/Over goal markets
England were the most attacking team in World Cup qualifying and had results of 6-0, 3-0, 5-1, 2-1 and 5-1 in their five home games. This makes it attractive for the Under/Over markets. Under/Over 2.5 is currently priced at 1.8, while Under/Over 3.5 is at 3.05. England aren’t a team that usually come away with 1-0 wins or 0-0 draws so the Under/Over 2.5 at least looks great value.
Goalscorers
After nine goals in the World Cup qualification campaign Rooney is always a good bet for England goals. A likely start up front on his own makes the 4.2 first goalscorer or 1.77 to score anytime good bets, while at 8.0 (first goalscorer) Theo Walcott looks excellent value considering his great start to the Premier League season. You can also back him at 3.2 for anytime goalscorer.
